A/N

Greetings and bienvenue! This is to (possibly...hopefully) be a sequel series to the "Worlds Apart" series. While my goal is make this a unique read that can stand alone, it might be helpful to read the previous three books in order to get some of my subtle nudges or original characters. Not sure if I'll keep this on here but if I get a good response, we'll see!

Starting over once again

Bumblebee had this odd feeling deep down. Maybe it was just the idea of adjusting back to quiet. It'd been a while since the team got to just sit down and do nothing. A little driving, a little sparing, some fun and commotion. Bee sighed, looking around at the others. Sideswipe and Strongarm were fighting over Primus knows what. Since it had not escalated to violence or something that could cause more problems, he didn't see a need to stop it. After all, they needed to solve their own arguments every now and then. Changing his direction, he spotted Grimlock towering behind Drift. The latter looked annoyed as the Dinobot talked about nothing in particular. Bee chuckled to himself. How did this team even function?

"Lieutenant?"

Bee perked, tapping his comm.

"What's up, Fixit?"

"I'm…not sure, lieutenant. It might be better to blow *zip*crow *zip*show!"

Bee sighed, moving toward the command center. Spotting Bumblebee on the move, Strongarm was quick to push Sideswipe aside to follow. Feeling their argument wasn't finished, Sideswipe stormed after, shouting at her, not that she cared. Seeing a means of escape, Drift ran to join the others, with Grimlock happily following him. Soon, the entire team was lined up in front of the command center. Fixit looked around with a grin, being the center of attention.

"What's wrong, Fixit?" Bee sighed.

"Decepticons?" grinned Grimlock, punching one fist into the palm of the other.

"Well," Fixit shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure what it is."

"What do you mean?" Strongarm perked.

"I mean, the signal is distorted and hardly staying in focus," grumbled the minicon, tapping at his controls. "It isCybertronian though."

"So, it couldbe a Decepticon?" Grimlock mumbled.

"Either way," Bumblebee nodded. "It's worth checking out. The distortion could mean whoever they are is in need of help. Where to, Fixit?"

"I already have the coordinates in the ground bridge, sir!"

The ground bridge surged, rattling as it turned on, revealing a swirling light in the center. It changed the air pressure, pulling a strong wind inward. Standing out in front of the group, Bee nodded, glancing back.

"Let's rev up and roll out, team!"

Transforming, the group charged forward, Grimlock taking up the back in dino form. Fixit shut the bridge down. As the system shut down, the control console began flickering. The symbols changed, shifting in form and color. Fixit grumbled, smashing a hand over it. The loud slam seemed to have corrected the problem as the right set of information displayed.

Meanwhile, team bee arrived in the middle of nowhere, a preferable location for robots in disguise. Transforming back, Bee tapped his comm link.

"Fixit, which way are we heading?"

"I…can't get a lock. I'm sorry, Lieutenant."

Bee sighed, turning back to his team. After all they'd been through, this hardly seemed like a mission, more like a temporary fix to a larger boredom.

"Fan out. Whoever we're looking for is around here somewhere," he instructed, motioning outward. "Don't engage." He looked directly at Grimlock. "Call for backup and we'll deal with this together. Autobot or Decepticon, I'd rather we didn't make things worse."

"But what if it isan Autobot?" whimpered Strongarm. "If they need immediate medical attention, shouldn't we provide it?"

Bee groaned slightly, looking away. If it was an Autobot in need of help, they should engage, but if it was a Decepticon, they shouldn't go in alone. It was hard to make a good decision when he didn't know what they were up against. With a sigh, he looked back at them.

"Call in then help if they need it, okay?" Bee nodded. "But becareful!"

With that, the team dispersed. There wasn't much cover, mostly dust and dirt. There were a few patches of trees, but hardly anything that would be enough to hide an entire Cybertronian. Bee was sure to check those patches of woods anyway. The greenery was a nice change from the rest of the brown area. After what felt like hours, Bee decided to check in on the others.

"Anyone got anything?"

"Just a lot of nothing." Sideswipe, Bee noted.

"How long do we have to do this, again?"Grimlock.

"Until we find the source of that signal. Though at this point, the signal may be a false alarm." Drift.

"I haven't found anyone but…"

"But?" perked Bee. "Strongarm, did you find something?"

"Not sure. It's just a bunch of circles and lines in the dirt."

Bee stopped, looking down at his feet. Similar circles were drawn across the dirt, linked and unlinked by skinny lines. Some were connected to only one circle while others were connected to several. Following the diagram, he noted a larger circle, with another circle inside. Everything branched from there. Bee looked up, spotting another wooded area.

"I think I'm onto something," he whispered into the comm. "Let's meet up at my coordinates."

He stepped into the small forest, stepping around some of the circles and lines. Walking alongside them, he noticed that some of the circles had been rubbed out along with the lines. The further he got from the larger circle, the less circles there were. Eventually, there weren't any left, with a single line continuing into the woods. Bee followed it, ending at the feet of another bot. It was a rather short bot, white armor plates and golden joints. His purple optics looked down as his finger traced the dirt. Mud, dirt and leaves were caked onto him, hiding any hope of identification marking. As Bee stepped up to him, he looked up with a tilted head.

"Uh…hello?" Bumblebee waved. "Um…who are you? What are doing way out here?"

The bot got to his feet, stepping forward. Bee watched as the other shambled forward, displaying a badly damaged portion of his ankle joint. Bee held out his arms, catching the mysterious bot before he completely fell over. He lifted his head and looked at Bumblebee, again tilting his head slightly. He offered a childish smile. Bee set the bot back upright.

"Can you understand me?" groaned Bumblebee, taking his hands away slightly to see if the bot could stand on his own.

"Shattered," the bot whispered, optics widened. "Gone. They're gone. Shattered. Disconnected. End. End. End."

Bee covered the mouth of the other as he began repeating the word. He sighed. Processor damage, probably severe seeing as his signal was flickering as horrible as Fixit had described. Strongarm and Sideswipe came up behind him, peeking around him to see the other bot.

"So, this what we came for?" Sideswipe hummed, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," groaned Bee.

"Why are you covering his mouth?" Strongarm perked, pointing at the bot.

Bee removed his hand, allowing the bot to repeat "end" a few more times before covering the mouth again. Sideswipe and Strongarm exchanged looks. Bee shrugged. Drift and Grimlock stepped up behind them. Grimlock rushed around, stepping behind the bot. He looked around, trying to find an insignia.

"So, is he a Con?" murmured Grimlock, looking over at Bumblebee.

"He's covered in so much mud, it's impossible to tell," grumbled Strongarm, crossing her arms. "He needs a car wash."

"I don't think he's a car," grinned Sideswipe, pulling on the wings attached to the bot. "How many flying Autobots you know?"

"Windblade," huffed Strongarm. "I don't think you should judge a bot based on their alt mode, anyway."

Sideswipe rolled his eyes, stepping away.

"Let's get him back to the scrapyard. Maybe Fixit can find out what's wrong with him," Bee nodded.

Something felt off as Bee looked at him. He felt it in his spark. It brought up memories of Optimus and team Prime. Looking into the other's optics, he could almost see the war right before him. Why did this bot make him feel so uncomfortable?